Yeats’ poem “When You Are Old” tells a well-told tale of a “shoulda, coulda, woulda” ending to a love relationship. However, the perspective that Yeats chose to write in adds a mysterious quality to the lines that leaves the reader with unanswered questions. The narrator begins by speaking to a woman about her future; about times when she will be “old and grey and full of sleep” and sitting somewhat passively by a fire. He wants her to “take this book down, And slowly read” the story of their involvement with one another. This leads to my first question: Was there even a relationship between the speaker and the woman at all? In other words, is the narrator writing this poem out of spitefulness after a rough break up or because he never got the girl of his dreams in the first place? He continues on by asking her to “slowly read” their book and “dream of the soft look your eyes once had”, however this book could represent her memory rather than an actual tangible object to read. The narrator wants this woman to review her past, thinking of times when she was young, beautiful, and had “moments of glad grace” that captivated the attention of many men. During her youthful days, those men noticed and actively sought out her alluring physique, which perhaps angered the speaker since these other gentlemen were attracted to her appearance rather than her “pilgrim soul”. He “loved the sorrows of [the woman’s] changing face” and saw the beauty not only in her youthful appearance, but in her soul and slowly aging wrinkled face as well. That being said, the speaker is clearly suggesting that no one has ever or will ever love the woman as he did and that she missed out on her opportunity with true love (in his eyes anyways). So, do these feelings stem from the narrator’s relationship hang-over or are they the outcome of unreciprocated feelings from a woman caught in the sea of attractive men surrounding her; a sea in which the speaker is merely an unnoticed guppy? In either case, he wants his lost love to “Murmur, a little sadly, how love fled” from her grasp as she continues to read her book of memories about her past encounters with lust, dwelling on the fact that she never felt true love in her lifetime, just superficial infatuations. In the hopes of easing his own pain caused by this situation, the speaker hopes the woman gets at least a small sense of the agony she put him through, whether she is aware of this emotional impact or not. At the end of this line, the speaker represents himself with the word “Love” while he “paced upon the mountains overhead” thinking about his lost love’s every move. If these two characters were in a relationship at some point, he might be striding back and forth on the mountain frantically thinking about all the other men she may encounter after their break up. It is a common part of the breakup process to wonder who your ex- girl friend or boyfriend moved on to, and this holds true even in modern times. On the other hand, if the speaker never had that type of close connection with his dream girl and is still longing to start a relationship with the woman, its quite possible that he is waiting for his opportunity to pounce on any chance with the woman, impatiently pacing around in the meantime. For both cases, in the end the narrator realizes that he is just a “face amid a crowd of stars” in the woman’s eyes and she has moved on with her life. In contrast, even though the speaker loves this woman for her soul, she will one day grow old and her memory of him will fade, especially with all the attention from appealing “stars” of men who admire her beauty.
Yeats and “The Coat” of Many Colors
While reading through Yeats’s work, the poem “A Coat” seemed to standout from the others, especially since my personal interpretation of its lines complimented my interests in psychology and self-discovery. The speaker states that he “made my song a coat” that is decorated with intricate embroideries depicting old mythological stories. From these first few lines, it appears that they have fabricated a socially desirable persona and wear it to cover up who they truly are in fear of being rejected by others. They over embellish likeable qualities and try to tell everyone stories about what they want to hear, like “old mythologies” full of excitement and heroic acts. He wears this coat “from heal to throat”, like a cloak that shields his fragile inner being from the rough elements of society. However, this is a completely conscious process for the speaker as he looks upon others as “fools” for believing his polished, possibly deceitful and gilded, self-image. The public not only accepts the speaker’s personal veneer, but believes their own embroidered selves “as though they’d wrought it” when actually their personal identities have been shaped by the expectations of society. Of course, he also clarifies that people “wore it in the world’s eyes”, insinuating that they use their fake-fronts in public, potentially without being aware of it, yet behind closed doors with a few trusted individuals their coats can come off exposing the true self. He thinks he has this all-knowing power that sees through the fakeness of the world’s population, almost having an air of bitterness towards others while wanting to “let them take” the concocted personal songs they try and tell one another. The speaker concludes by insisting “there’s more enterprise in walking naked” in the abrasive societal weather than trying to disguise ones true being. The word “enterprise” is nice in this last line because it makes self-discovery sound like an ongoing, effortful process that requires much more boldness and energy than just accepting the identity bestowed on you by others. That being said, although that process takes more time and will-power, it is also more rewarding to be comfortable in ones own skin, to “walk naked”.
“Well”, It Was Nice Knowing Ya
While on this poem analysis kick, it seems best to look next at Paula Meehan’s poem “Well”. The speaker begins by describing a path he or she knows “by magic not by sight” suggesting they are talking about an emotional journey of some sort, something they can feel but not see and this phrase is repeated in later lines. They mention a tiny glimmering cottage light behind them on the hillside “like a star gone astray”, as if they are looking back on something from the past longing to return home to it. The “magic” path is well worn, possibly run down and decrepit, and flanked with frost stricken grass. These images create a sense of severed ties between two people, iced over by ill feelings or resentment as a result of a bad circumstance or situation. The speaker must lug a bucket with thorny handles from the well, perhaps inclining that they have a painful history full of mistakes or regrets that they are forced to deal with on a daily basis. The next three lines of the poem provide an explanation for what this regret might be: cheating on his or her partner. For instance, the speaker came home from the well one morning “quite unkempt”, unable to explain “what happened at the well” as the partner spurned their “explanation of a sex spell”. This leads the reader to believe that the speaker got caught up in the heat of the moment one night and acted promiscuously under a spell of passion with another man or woman. In an effort to pacify the resentment the love partner expresses towards the speaker’s actions, they try to remind him or her about all the good qualities they possess and the high points of their relationship. The speaker shows their partner what is inside their torn-covered bucket they carried from the well, such as “a golden waning moon, seven silver stars, our porch light, your face at the window staring into the dark” that are all drifting in the water. It is interesting how all of these good memories are found within the bucket that might symbolize the biggest pitfall of the relationship, the act of cheating. In fact, its almost as if these positive recollections become burdens themselves once the couple’s connection takes a turn for the worst because their sentiments now bring pain.
Youth in Revolt
It’s quite possible that my age influences how I interpret poetry and what messages I take away from the literary works discussed in Ireland being that everything tends to allude to love, relationships, or growing up. For instance, Mary O’Malley’s poem “Couplets” at its most obvious interpretation involves the speaker is trying to “knock the prettiness” out of her poetry in a classroom setting. However, when reading this work, I imagined a schoolgirl back in the old days with a nun for a teacher. The girl did something to get into trouble with the nun and consequently has to write “black and white unbeautiful lines” as punishment, either by repeating the same line over and over again or by writing an essay on how to better her behavior (just some examples). The speaker makes a reference to Derek Walcott’s collection of poems titled “Midsummer” and how reading these works was apparently a big mistake in the nun’s eyes because it exposed the girl to beautiful, rhythmic writing. Writing and poetry in this context might be symbolic of adolescent behavior while growing up, going through hormonal changes, and defying rules on the pursuit of self-discovery. The “nun”, for the purposes of this analysis, is running a “detox programme designed to knock the prettiness out” of the speaker’s lines. This detox program brings detention to mind from middle and high school years, which is used to prevent negative actions from reoccurring. Of course, what makes a behavior negative is up for interpretation depending on an individual’s viewpoint. The nun wants to “bring the poison out” of the speaker, which could be her imagination, deviance, rebelliousness, restlessness, or even promiscuity. The poem itself has an overarching air of sarcasm that, as the student/speaker tells her story about the “detox programme”, suggests this punishment of sorts will not effect her new found perceptions of the world that come with maturing and being exposed to new things. Once a teenager gets a taste of rebelliousness or starts to question “black and white” rules, it is nearly impossible to regain innocence.
Addicted to Love Part II
In a prior blog post, I took a look at two possible meanings behind Paula Meehan’s poem “On the Warpath”. On one hand, this particular work seems to describe the tumultuous process of falling in love and the self-regulation required to contain such intense emotions. On the other hand, the poem might also reference the battle against drug addiction. Paula tends to tell very personal stories through her poetry, so perhaps she knows/knew someone in her life going through this struggle. With this interpretation, the “full moon drawing you in tight as a drumhead” is representative of the drug taking over an individual’s ability think, behave, and act and trapping them into this alternate form of reality. Addictions can cause a great deal of strain on any type of interpersonal relationships, leaving the addict with “no sunny spells” of love or connections to others and “frost inland” brought on by this sense of loneliness. The speaker mentions searching through the heart’s rugged landscape “searching for high ground” for meaning or happiness in life. When nothing seems to fill the void, it is possible to feel ambushed by the desire to take a hit or have another drink to escape the pain of discomfort. This ultimately leads to a “skirmish” and deadly battle of choosing to resist the drug or to fall under its control.
The only hope in this war against addiction is to recognize that we are our own enemy and we must “recognize our foe, every move of him” in order to win the right to have a healthy life once again. To avoid this confrontation, “choosing protective coloring” could represent steering clear of situations conducive to drug or alcohol usage. The speaker concludes the poem by describing the “dead casual” expressions of the addict that covers up the inner “unsprung, human, suddenly, wild.” I see this having a double meaning. First, the “dead casual” face might be representative of the person’s dissatisfaction with the struggles of reality so the suddenly uncoiled wild human alludes to what they feel like after surrendering to their addiction. Alternatively, the dead casualness could also symbolize the lifelessness in a person’s eyes when under the influence or the guilt they may feel trying to overcome their desires. Thus, the wild uncoiled “human” would be their true drug-free self trying to break though to have control of their life again, the urgency to be “human” once more.
Addicted to Love Part I
Many of Paula Meehan’s works have a very personal backstory to them, especially the proses and poems about her family members. Whether or not her poem “On the Warpath” is connected to a specific person in her life is unknown to me, however it seems like it may be discussing one of two things: either love or drug addiction (but I suppose they could be one in the same depending on the person, might as well face it you’re addicted to love). If we choose the “love” route, the “full moon” drawing the reader in is representative of the person that captivates our attention and provides sense of completeness. All too often people do stupid or immature things when they are under the intoxicating spell of love because their emotions cloud their judgment and reasoning capabilities. Our “face in the mirror is cloudy with overcast” as this “moon” takes over the mind, its thoughts, and can alter our behavior to a point that we do not even recognize ourselves. It turns into a “deadly game you play” constantly monitor your actions while trying to analyze the actions of the person you are falling in love with. The line “Give as good as you get” is interesting because it discusses how past relationship experiences can either jade a person if things end poorly, or open up their hearts when everything works out in their favor, those hopeless romantic types. Someone who has been cheated on multiple times would probably not invest too much in subsequent relationships, therefore weakening a couple’s bond and increasing the chance that the ties break between them at a faster rate.
The speaker gives the reader advice to “choose protective coloring” and “know your foe” in the emotional battlefield of love (yes I know that was outrageously cheesy). The foe can be our selves, our hormones, and our own idealistic expectations for love that we get caught up in. Of course, it is typical to try to “act dead casual” and hide our true feelings by coiling them up “within the self” in an attempt to hide them from the outside world, especially from the person we are crushing on. Underneath this cool, calm, and collected façade is a “human, suddenly, wild” trying to manage the complex cocktail of emotions involved with falling in love.
Coward or Hero?
At the start of J.M Synge’s “Playboy of the Western World”, Christy Mahon is on the run from the police because he believes he killed his father, Old Mahon. Throughout his childhood, Christy grew up under the wrath of his mean terrorizing drunk of a dad and consequently developed a submissive, cowardly personality and a damaging lack of self-esteem. Of course, everything changes once Christy thinks he murdered his father after striking him on the head with a weapon. This is symbolic of murdering the oppression placed upon him under his father’s critical eye allowing for the growth of courage, confidence, and self-worth, especially as the town bestows a heroic halo on Christy. The community eventually discovers Christy’s true submissive self later on in the play when Old Mahon reappears, but at this point he comes to embody the hero that he claims to be. In an attempt to uphold his new heroic, possibly God-like status, Christy makes a failed second attempt at killing his father but this time around his actions are not well perceived and he is yet again a wanted man by the towns people.
Patricide is a common theme in Irish literature as it is symbolic of the inheritance of one’s past, which is especially important for the island nation. Land or property inheritance practically determined a person’s chances of leaving home or having to stay with mom and dad for the rest of their life. Old Mahon represents this inheritance, with Christy trying to beat down a potentially dull and fixated future. His only way out of a determined life is to escape it in hopes of developing his own self-identity in the world along the way. However, in the end Christy and Old Mahon completely rehabilitate their broken relationship as Old Mahon helps his son escape the wrath of the angry community. This makes me pick up on another meaning of the play: we can’t escape the past because it plays in important role in shaping who we become. Trying to be someone we are not only leads to disaster and a false sense of self.
The Shape of Sass
As mentioned in previous blog posts, my study abroad group had the pleasure of meeting the renown Irish poet Mary O’Malley. In class, we discussed a host of her works, including “The Shape of Saying” and “A Touch of Sass”, which both discuss formation and alteration of the English language. However, it seems like “A Touch of Sass” is a continuation of the story told in “The Shape of Saying” about the evolution of Anglican dialects. For instance, “The Shape of Saying” begins with the speaker discussing the inheritance of “received English” as if it were like money with “old gold words”. Then the speaker mentions how they relish the “poppies of Donne” after the French and Latin wars were over, suggesting that the English language dominated over other languages to stand the test of time. The poppy is symbolic of English military forces where as Donne represents the English language itself. In other words, the speaker is happy that English beat out other languages and feels like it is somewhat of a privilege to know it. On the other hand, it still gives them “unpleasant dreams”, possibly referring to the struggles between England and Ireland. To help alleviate these bad dreams, the Irish “sheared it, carded it, fleeced it, and finally wove it” into their own unique English-Irish dialect. “A Touch of Sass” continues upon this theme of language evolution by making references to Maya Angelou’s impact on the “elocution class”. This time around, English seems to have a mind of it’s own as “words danced” and “vowels stretched and yawned and sighed”. This forms a direct contrast between the rhythmic musical qualities of the language in “A Touch of Sass” compared to the original English dialect with “no softness, no sorrow, no sweet lullabies” in the Shape of Saying. At the conclusion of Sass, the speaker closes their eyes and “thinks of England”, which has a somewhat historically dirty connotation, but within the context of the poem the speaker might be thinking of how English evolved from something so cut and dry into a more sensual and song-like language.
Swans vs. Playboys
Yeats is known for is fanciful imagination and vivid descriptions of alternate worlds. However, in his poem “Wild Swans at Coole” he has a tone more resistant to change in a pleasant swan pond setting. Perhaps this pond serves as a reliable comfort in a forever changing world where Yeats could his “happy place” for inspiration, to relax, and feel a certain level of constancy knowing he always had this blissful retreat to go back to. Of course, it’s seems as though Yeats is over analyzing the swans on Coole pond when reading the lines of them poem, however they might have a specific symbolic meaning for this writer. Swans are representative of eternal elegance, grace, swiftness, and beauty much like the ideal noble men and women of the upper class back in the day. Yeats, being a part of the nobility social sphere, idolized the swans because he did not want to loose his high class status. In other words, he did not want the lower class to rise up to an upper class level because it might mean the nobles may regress in status thus creating this desire for steadiness to avoid the possibility of class change.
In contrast, J.M. Synge’s “Playboy of the Western World” is based upon the concept of breaking out of lower class monotony. The people of the town thirst for excitement to break up the bleakness of their mundane lives, with Christy symbolizing their desires for a better life. More specifically, he represents Pegeen’s chance to escape being stuck in the town, an opportunity for freedom from a dull gray life in the pub.
It’s interesting how routine predictability of life in the lower class or a small town appears drab whereas monotony in the upper class appears comforting. In a sense, both the swan and Christy are symbolic of class but for opposite reasons: the swan for steady nobility and Christy for the lower class eager for change but never achieves it in the end
Dinner with Mary O’Malley
I’ve begun to loose track of how many artists and writers my study abroad group and I have met so far during our travels across Ireland. On our first night in Galway, it was Mary O’Malley’s turn to present a selection of works, which was perfect since the class spent a lengthy amount of time reviewing her poems. Katie, Emily, Olivia, Megan, and I had the special opportunity to go to dinner with Mary prior to the reading where we got to learn about her on a more personal level. The students often wonder what inspires such great work, however the response usually leads to an “I don’t know, it just comes to me” response that can demystify our fascination with decoding the meaning behind artwork and literature. Naturally this question came up at dinner as we discussed Mary’s inspiration behind poems such as “Credo” and “The Spiraling Song”. She said there are two methods of writing: either she must sit at her desk until some random stream of words hits her like a ton of bricks, or something will spark a rhythmic fire that could fill notebook upon notebook with poetry. She said if an ideal comes to her, she must write it down as soon as possible or it will drift into oblivion, which is reminiscent of Paul Durcan’s quote saying “it’s no use having a rough idea four days later” since the idea won’t be as fresh and detailed the longer you wait to write it down.
After we finished up eating, the dinner party merged with the rest of the study abroad pack and ventured over to a conference hall for the actual main event of the evening, Mary’s poetry reading. Her more recent works are great, however I found the question and answer portion the most beneficial to my Irish literature experience because she actually went in depth with the back-stories behind each poem she recited, especially because she did not mention any of this information at dinner. For example, the class analyzed her poem “The Otter Woman”, which is a take on the Irish myth of the Seal Woman, the Selkie. We had immense trouble attempting to figure out why Mary used an otter in the poem instead of the traditional tale of the seal until she revealed the otter represented herself in a way. She had battled serious lung illnesses throughout life, making it hard to breath, which is a natural/crucial part of human life being land mammals. That being said, otters are actually furry land mammals that spend the majority of their time out floating on the water and eating clams. Thus, otters look and feel out of place on land even though they are mammals, just like Mary feels out of place not being able to breathe properly. Had it not been for the poetry reading, the class would have never known the true meaning behind this particular poem.